I swung by yesterday since I happened to be in Copley Square. I was not impressed. In fact, I was angry. No, it would be more accurate to say I was furious.

Everything Eataly offers is taken care of by other nearby businesses and for less. Eataly advertises itself as a hybrid restaurant and upscale market. It's definitely more market than restaurant. The aisles and walkways are intentionally narrow (single file) to control foot traffic, making it almost impossible to walk around without bumping into someone or something. More than a few times I saw or heard something get accidently knocked over.

You could see the awkward expressions on both customers and employees. Everyone knew what had been there before of course. It should come as no surprise for me to say this is probably why the PRU has been aggressively pushing for new restaurants to move in ASAP over the last 10 months. I asked a few people who knew what had been there before and they all prettymuch said the same thing: "They got rid of the food court for this?!"

From what I heard from two employees, they don't expect Eataly to stay once the lease expires. Construction was over budget, the opening was pushed back due staffing issues and sales have been low despite the agressive advertising. The nearby Shaws doesn't feel threatened by Eataly at all so...yeah.

...Nevermind the fact your average congoer is on a tight budget. I obviously have a very biased opinion of Eataly so I'm asking what others think of it.

I actually had an extremely hard time getting *into* Eataly at all the day before Christmas Eve. It was packed with lines out the door. The only place I miss from the old food court is Paradise.

I was quite impressed by the selection of meats, cheeses and other items Eataly had to offer. While Shaws may sell the same type of thing, it's not going to anywhere near the quality from Mario Batalli's team. The chocolates and desserts all looked amazing and the pizza smelled so good. I'm hoping to go back once the holiday rush dies down to actually enjoy some of the foods, but I am extremely excited by everything I've seen.

Ah, good to be back on the forums after a hiatus. Anyway, I checked Eataly's Yelp and it has 3/5 stars with 112 reviews. Before going into the nitty-gritty of the site known as Yelp, it does need to be advised that this place is fairly new and there is still hype surrounding it. Once it hits the 4 months mark (looks like March 2017), things should start settling down.

Anyway, to sum up what I have read on Yelp may be the one comment that I have seen more than a few times, "think of it like an amusement park." Although a lot of people are excited for the place to finally be open, a lot of the negative reviews appear to go to 2 distinct qualities of the establishment, too small and poor customer service. The too small quality goes to not only the isles being smaller than expected but also to how small the Boston location is compared to it's sister store in New York. I am kind of surprised by that particular statement since they are technically in a new building. The poor service quality appears to be on the restaurant side, where it sounds like they have inexperienced waiters. I mean waiters are responsible for knowing the products, including allergies associated with said product (yes, that was an issue for one of the Yelpers). Food quality-wise, I read that it was average with some saying it's good and others saying it's bad, with one saying they would have rather gone to Taco Bell.

Anyway, I am going to be trying it out either in Late-January/Early-February. When I go, I'll make sure to come back to this and tell of my experience.

CJ Gren wrote:I actually had an extremely hard time getting *into* Eataly at all the day before Christmas Eve. It was packed with lines out the door. The only place I miss from the old food court is Paradise.

I was quite impressed by the selection of meats, cheeses and other items Eataly had to offer. While Shaws may sell the same type of thing, it's not going to anywhere near the quality from Mario Batalli's team. The chocolates and desserts all looked amazing and the pizza smelled so good. I'm hoping to go back once the holiday rush dies down to actually enjoy some of the foods, but I am extremely excited by everything I've seen.

Like I said before, everything Eataly offers you can get better from somewhere nearby: You can get all of the same quality meats and cheeses they offer for less in the North End, which is a few stops away on the Green Line. Pizza, there's too many other options. Same with Desserts and Wines.

Elli21486 wrote:Ah, good to be back on the forums after a hiatus. Anyway, I checked Eataly's Yelp and it has 3/5 stars with 112 reviews. Before going into the nitty-gritty of the site known as Yelp, it does need to be advised that this place is fairly new and there is still hype surrounding it. Once it hits the 4 months mark (looks like March 2017), things should start settling down.

Anyway, to sum up what I have read on Yelp may be the one comment that I have seen more than a few times, "think of it like an amusement park." Although a lot of people are excited for the place to finally be open, a lot of the negative reviews appear to go to 2 distinct qualities of the establishment, too small and poor customer service. The too small quality goes to not only the isles being smaller than expected but also to how small the Boston location is compared to it's sister store in New York. I am kind of surprised by that particular statement since they are technically in a new building. The poor service quality appears to be on the restaurant side, where it sounds like they have inexperienced waiters. I mean waiters are responsible for knowing the products, including allergies associated with said product (yes, that was an issue for one of the Yelpers). Food quality-wise, I read that it was average with some saying it's good and others saying it's bad, with one saying they would have rather gone to Taco Bell.

Anyway, I am going to be trying it out either in Late-January/Early-February. When I go, I'll make sure to come back to this and tell of my experience.

...I caught wind of this when I was there. Granted they recently opened but they should have known expectations would be high.

Yes the Eataly is technically in a new building and has a street entrance (888 Boylston St.) but it takes up all of what used to be the Food Court. For some reason, whoever designed the layout thought the unit would fit in that area. In comparison, Boylston St.'s Apple Store is the biggest in the Northeast (5 floors). Eataly should have spanned two full floors. It's pretty obvious they forced everything in that location. A poor location choice. Should've put Eataly in a much larger space clearly.

...If a waiter doesn't know if there are allergens in the menu items, I'd have gotten up and left. You should be able to easly answer "This contains Eggs" or "That doesn't have Nuts". That's asking for a lawsuit. The restaurant and cafe both looked like they were tacked on at the end like "Wait we forgot to add the dinning areas!"

...By the way, I'm pretty sure the Paradise Bakery/Sandwich shop and Legal Sea Foods are reopening in the PRU if I read right.

None of the area businesses who overlap with Eataly are worried because they know it won't last. They should have put a full service restaurant in that space, not a marketplace with a restaurant tacked on. Maybe move Bertucci's or UNO in there. Those would have been guaranteed to last several years and wouldn't have opened at a loss like Eataly is now.

Last edited by Aurabolt on Thu Feb 09, 2017 1:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Aurabolt wrote:Yes the Eataly is technically in a new building and has a street entrance (888 Boylston St.) but it takes up all of what used to be the Food Court. For some reason, whoever designed the layout thought the unit would fit in that area. In comparison, Boylston St.'s Apple Store is the biggest in the Northeast (5 floors). Eataly should have spanned two full floors. It's pretty obvious they forced everything in that location. A poor location choice. Should've put Eataly in a much larger space clearly.

Just how big is the Eataly? Is it just in the former Food Court? It was my understanding that the Eataly would take the space of the first and second floor of the new building and spill over into the food court.

Also, took a look at the Facebook reviews and they did have a higher rating there. However, there are still multiple comments of size issue and it being overcrowded. Before I leave though, I will mention that it appears Eataly is now in PR Control mode on both Yelp and Facebook, with newer comments getting a response from them.

So that building where the outside access to the food court use to be is not part of Eataly? So Eataly has only take some of the space of that area and there is also a tall building there? Ok.... can anyone confirm you can purchase a slice of pizza at Eataly? With that option at Eataly I can at least bare.

OK guys, mother nature presented an opportunity to visit Eataly with less people with today's storm. Since I was in Boston anyway taking pictures, I visited the establishment, this is what I saw.

Overall Size: Not Impressed
The Eataly is technically a a 3 story establishment (from what I saw) but the overall size was definitely over-hyped and disappointing.

On the first floor is a cafe (coffee) and that is it. It has some seating but not much with an escalator to go up to the second floor. Size-wise, I will say the entire first floor of the Eataly is definitely bigger than the Dunkin Donuts in the Prudential and I will say it is probably double the size of it. This is all in the new building.

The second floor is where the rest of the Eataly is for now. Walking in there from the Prudential side feels somewhat nostalgic as it still holds the shape of the food court and does take the entire space of the food court and some change (looks like the building was extended as far as the outdoor seating area). The side where the flower shop was is now the entrance and the side where Qdoba was are the registers/exit. Here, I can definitely see why people felt it was small. The main isles are roughly 5 feet with the isles for the shelves are about 3 feet. That really isn't much room to navigate the area, especially if it is crowded. Add to that the fact that there are table sections scattered makes it feel smaller than it actually was. Now, the main seating, which I assume is the restaurant portion, is blocked off with 1 entrance but it open to the room (I believe it was separated from the market by a small wall). It looks like that is where the pizza and pasta are made for general dining. If I was to guess, it can hold up to 75 people but that's just a guess. Personally didn't bother going in as I wasn't going to eat.

As for the third floor, I have no comment on that since it was closed and roped off with a sign saying to check for updates. It did give a hint that it was going to be a restaurant so I am going to guess that the third floor will be the actual restaurant.

What is in the new building then if not the Eataly?
As of now, I only saw 3 stores that are in the new building, Hammer Made, Under Amour, and Tesla.

From the mall corridor, you can enter Hammer Made and Under Amour with Under Amour being 2 floors (2nd and 3rd). There is also a corridor to go into the 888 Building and what looks to be 1 or 2 other stores being built. From the outside (first floor), you can get into Tesla as well as another entrance for the 888 Building. I am not sure whether you can enter Tesla from the first floor at the bottom of the escalator though.

Restrooms
This was completely surprising to me. Yes, the bathrooms in the Eataly is still in the same place but nothing has changed inside the bathroom (well, Men's bathroom anyway.) I would have figured that they will invest in upgrading the restrooms but looks like they didn't even bother.

Grab-N-Go? Maybe no!
The only things I saw that could be considered Grab-N-Go was the coffee, desserts, paninis, salads, and possibly pizza and pasta. In all honesty, not much variety but then again, it is suppose to be strictly Italian. The pizza and pasta are in the possibly because that area of the restaurant has a To-Go counter so I am going to assume that you can call to order and pick-up. However, since it was on the side of the pizza, I am not sure if it can apply to the pasta too.

Pizza, Pizza, and Pizza
Since someone asked about pizza, I thought it would be fitting to answer this here. Can you buy a slice of pizza from Eataly?... NO????

Ok, let me explain a little on this. From the restaurant's pizza, it appears you can only purchase whole pizzas which looks to be somewhere between 8 inches to 10 inches in diameter. That would typically be 6-8 slices. However, I noticed they served single slice "Roman-Style Pizzas" in one of the areas. If you like the thin-crust, this isn't for you as the dough looked to be 1 inch thick. If you want to try it, just be aware that the slices start at ~$4.50 per slice.

At the end of the day, Eataly probably won't be that big of a draw for Congoers. While yes I get it caters to consumers with a bigger budget that your average congoer, that alone won't be enough to sustain it past its lease with the PRU. Same thing happened with the Best Buy that used to be in the area, actually: Best Buy renewed their lease once since sales were good but couldn't renew it again because sales nosedived despite it being an anchor for area businesses.

Eataly was brought in for that role. Again, I will be very surprised their lease is renewed.

Yes, I remember all 3 of those. I made a typo which I will correct in my previous post but I'm sure the two restaurants being brought back in the Pru from before are Legal Sea Foods and Paradise Bakery/Sandwich shop from the old food court (due to popular demand). They'd just be somewhere else in the mall. The Cheeseboy and Flamers have both apparently also expressed an interest in returning to the PRU or somewhere nearby but those are just rumors as far as I know.

Also, Eataly was still busy today when I went in to get lunch. While it may not be the best for attendees, it's popular with locals and tourists.

people are dumb and don't know what "real pizza" is...i can say this because I've been to Italy (Tuscany and the new York Etily) and got really exited when they said they had something like this going to boston...The chocolates looked amazing and i can't wait to get my chocolate fix! Italian chocolates yummy!

cosplays i have complete:
Rocket Member (myself as a team rocket member)
Yurio (yuri on ice)
Rinku (yu yu hakusho Magi (aladdin Magnoshetot)

I am only so nice once your mean to me i will ignore you and pretend you don't exist: childish but effective

I know a lot of my friends were planning to go in big groups for lunch/dinner, but I just went a couple weeks ago and there is barely any seating! The restaurants have decent sized tables, but those are only for restaurant seating and are VERY pricey. If you want one of the take out items, like pizza, salad, sandwich, etc, you'd have to fight over one of the 8 teeny tiny tables with only 2 seats that are also in a really awkward place between aisles. Not a place that really encourages sticking around to eat.

I know a lot of my friends were planning to go in big groups for lunch/dinner, but I just went a couple weeks ago and there is barely any seating! The restaurants have decent sized tables, but those are only for restaurant seating and are VERY pricey. If you want one of the take out items, like pizza, salad, sandwich, etc, you'd have to fight over one of the 8 teeny tiny tables with only 2 seats that are also in a really awkward place between aisles. Not a place that really encourages sticking around to eat.

(double posted in other eataly thread in general discussion)

You said verbatim what I overheard to three mall employees say last night. They all said it was a bad deal bringing in Eataly to the PRU. It might have worked in the Seaport District though. The lease is not expected to be renewed either. So, yeah.

I know a lot of my friends were planning to go in big groups for lunch/dinner, but I just went a couple weeks ago and there is barely any seating! The restaurants have decent sized tables, but those are only for restaurant seating and are VERY pricey. If you want one of the take out items, like pizza, salad, sandwich, etc, you'd have to fight over one of the 8 teeny tiny tables with only 2 seats that are also in a really awkward place between aisles. Not a place that really encourages sticking around to eat.

(double posted in other eataly thread in general discussion)

You said verbatim what I overheard to three mall employees say last night. They all said it was a bad deal bringing in Eataly to the PRU. It might have worked in the Seaport District though. The lease is not expected to be renewed either. So, yeah.

The problem, and I think this was stated before, is that the Eataly is catered to residents in the area and not the visitors nor employees. It would have made much more sense to put the Eataly in a separate building than the Pru and keep some kind of food venue for mall visitors.

I live in Boston and went to Eataly in early February. I personally disliked it. I have a service dog, she's a 30 pound poodle so not huge, and people were not making space for her at all. We really could not eat there again unless we had someone go pick up the food for us which is frustrating. They are absolutely not set up to handle the kind of traffic they are going to get from the con. The place is tiny and there is A LOT crammed in there. They do have some quick service counters but there really is not a lot of room to wait in line without running into other parts of the store where people are trying to eat or shop. It is also quite pricey for things like pizza and salads.

I live in Boston and went to Eataly in early February. I personally disliked it. I have a service dog, she's a 30 pound poodle so not huge, and people were not making space for her at all. We really could not eat there again unless we had someone go pick up the food for us which is frustrating. They are absolutely not set up to handle the kind of traffic they are going to get from the con. The place is tiny and there is A LOT crammed in there. They do have some quick service counters but there really is not a lot of room to wait in line without running into other parts of the store where people are trying to eat or shop. It is also quite pricey for things like pizza and salads.

Agreed on all of this! The place is really tiny considering the space they had allocated to them. In my experience, there wasn't enough room to walk around with all of the people trying to get a look at all of the various merch spaces and restaurants (I'm not even including the lines for the to go food.) There are too many random crates of product in the center, making it hard to get around somebody standing around. It definitely isn't going to be con friendly (though let's be real, the Pru and Hynes are no longer AB friendly anyway. I long for the day we finally get to go to the BCEC instead.)

The only good part of Eataly is the neat Italian grocery items I can buy instead of having to take a trip to the North End to get them. There are some really good hazelnut chocolates I'm fond of that they sell there. I love the North End and all, but I don't see myself going at all next weekend.

I live in Boston and went to Eataly in early February. I personally disliked it. I have a service dog, she's a 30 pound poodle so not huge, and people were not making space for her at all. We really could not eat there again unless we had someone go pick up the food for us which is frustrating. They are absolutely not set up to handle the kind of traffic they are going to get from the con. The place is tiny and there is A LOT crammed in there. They do have some quick service counters but there really is not a lot of room to wait in line without running into other parts of the store where people are trying to eat or shop. It is also quite pricey for things like pizza and salads.

Yeah, you nailed it. Like I said before the area RESIDENTS Eataly was meant to target aren't showing much interest. I would not be surprised if we hear talk of the food court coming back in some form a few years. The PRU can now see getting rid of the one they had for up-front millions was a big mistake. Hopefully one they won't ever repeat. Copley Place Made the same mistake 15 years ago. They not only got rid of their food court but the movie theater they once had.

There is nothing wrong with offering an upscale shopping experience but the reality is even high-rollers shop cheap. Especially when it comes to grocery shopping or dining. LOL.

I live in Boston and went to Eataly in early February. I personally disliked it. I have a service dog, she's a 30 pound poodle so not huge, and people were not making space for her at all. We really could not eat there again unless we had someone go pick up the food for us which is frustrating. They are absolutely not set up to handle the kind of traffic they are going to get from the con. The place is tiny and there is A LOT crammed in there. They do have some quick service counters but there really is not a lot of room to wait in line without running into other parts of the store where people are trying to eat or shop. It is also quite pricey for things like pizza and salads.

Yeah, you nailed it. Like I said before the area RESIDENTS Eataly was meant to target aren't showing much interest. I would not be surprised if we hear talk of the food court coming back in some form a few years. The PRU can now see getting rid of the one they had for up-front millions was a big mistake. Hopefully one they won't ever repeat. Copley Place Made the same mistake 15 years ago. They not only got rid of their food court but the movie theater they once had.

There is nothing wrong with offering an upscale shopping experience but the reality is even high-rollers shop cheap. Especially when it comes to grocery shopping or dining. LOL.

I knew I remembered a theater in Copley Place. The food court though, I don't remember that at all.

Once upon a time, there was a Gamestop on the 2nd floor of Copley Place. It was my go-to place and wasn't as crowded as the one in the PRU. Across from it was a Sbarro and a Subway with a shared dining area. They closed after Legal Seafoods opened next door, which itself closed two years later to make way for a botique. This was after the theater closed to make way for a boutique.

...LOL most of Copley Place is made up of boutiques not alot of people shop at. That's what happens when you aggressively target specific demographics in a mall and shut out the majority. Even crazier is The PRU is heading in the same direction. Both malls need more casual and niche options.

Yeah, I'm sure most congoers will at least check out Eataly out of curiousity.

...it was a Regal Cinema Theater if I remember right. It had 6 screens, none of which were iMAX or 3D. Ironically, the AMC Theater that recently opened Downtown at the time killed their business. It was already suffering from low attendence in its final years. Of course, a much larger Regal Cinema already existed near Fenway Park.

oh Prudential... stop pretending you're high-end, you're a tourist trap and you know it (and getting rid of food court screwed up ALL THE OFFICE WORKERS in all the buildings you're part of)

...Yep, same with the office workers in Copley Place. If they want to buy lunch they need to either run across Dartmouth St. (Tasty Burger and B.Good) or go to the Au Bon Pain in the mall. They wouldn't have time to go any further than that and they hate the limited options. At least with the Food Court in the PRU they could grab something to go and eat when they got back. Now they have nothing.

Copley may get away with being high-end but not the PRU. They gave up four of their biggest draws in the last 5 years (Food Court, Legal Sea Foods, P.F. Changs and Gamestop). That prettymuch leaves the Cheesecake Factory, Wagamama (Surprised?), Barnes & Noble and California Pizza. They can't afford to lose any of them with both Gamestop, Legal Sea Foods and the Food Court all gone. All the boutiques and high-end stores they've been bringing in aren't making much money so...yeah.

From what I can tell, the PRU is just pocketing the money from the lease and whatever the store makes for the duration. The managers of the Gamestop in both the PRU and Copley Place were pretty candid about both malls wanting to get rid of them for some time. The Gamestop that was in the PRU got the last laugh: They got their own space on Bolylston St. Sure, it'll cost a bit more but it's a more stable location. Unlike the Best Buy that used to be in the area, they don't have to worry about the building suddenly being sold either.

...it was a Regal Cinema Theater if I remember right. It had 6 screens, none of which were iMAX or 3D. Ironically, the AMC Theater that recently opened Downtown at the time killed their business. It was already suffering from low attendence in its final years. Of course, a much larger Regal Cinema already existed near Fenway Park.

The Copley Place cinema was a Loews complex with as many as 8 to 10 screens. I went there once to see an exclusive screening of The Princess Blade, and the screening rooms were like shoeboxes. They were actually that small and uncomfortable. They disappeared by the time AMC bought out Loews, and consolidated most of their theaters scattered around Boston into the complex off Tremont and the Common.

The Regal Cinema at Fenway, incidentally, used to be a General Cinemas theater before it was taken over by Regal.

Copley Place Made the same mistake 15 years ago. They not only got rid of their food court but the movie theater they once had.

The movie theater wasn't much of a loss. It was a terrible theater even when it opened: tiny theaters, lousy sight lines. By the time it closed it had fallen far behind the state of the art and was going to need expensive upgrades. Meanwhile, Loews built a new state of the art theater near Boston Common, so they no longer had any need for the one at Copley Place. Loews was later bought out by AMC but they still use the Loews name on the marquee of the Boston Common theater.

The food court? Copley Place repositioned itself as an even more high end shopping center and I think they decided the food court was too déclassé to remain; it brought in people at lunch time who dragged down the tone of their mall. They still have a few middlebrow stores (Gap, Banana Republic, Victoria's Secret) but they've all been there for a long time. And there is still the Au Bon Pain tucked into that odd first floor space, but AB attendees aren't likely to find their way over there because the one next to the Sheraton is much closer.

I finally seen inside of Eataly. I went on a Saturday in June this summer. It's pretty big but it gets packed. It wasn't too clear on how to just sit and dine. The space is crowded and conjested. So we as AB cannot take over like we did with the old food court. There are a lot of neat stuff there if you like pastas and dry meats, and cheeses, breads and sauces and wines and olive oils. So shopping there would be neat. But I'm not that interested at the moment in buying something unique to cook with. I did not get to see upstairs it looked blocked off or closed or off limits unless you had a reservation. I didn't get to use the outside entrance but it looks ok. :/ meh, it's just not a win for AB. So i avoid it.

I went there during AB. It was a slight disaster. the seating is sparse and hidden, there are waits for everything. All the aisles are narrow. As the previous poster said, its not a win for AB. This year I bought more food in the convention center because of it. Might've all been part of the plan.

I went there during AB. It was a slight disaster. the seating is sparse and hidden, there are waits for everything. All the aisles are narrow. As the previous poster said, its not a win for AB. This year I bought more food in the convention center because of it. Might've all been part of the plan.

...Funny you say that: The Hynes started offering in-house catering during events right after the Food Court shut down. They were added because the Food Court was gone and mainly because Anime Boston IS the largest venue they host in terms of attendees,

Last year was the first time I ate exclusively in-house but only because money wasn't an issue for me. This was also the second year in a row the Hynes had a full-service cafeteria on the ground floor in addition to the stands set up on the second and third floors. I can speak to that a bit.

Ok so the dining area in the cafeteria can seat about 100 people. Food pricing...$10 will cover a drink ($1 or $2) + 1 Entree Item Burger, Hot Dog, Italian Sausage, Turkey Leg, Salad, Chicken Sandwhich, Pizza or Taco Salad ($5 to $8) + 1 Side of French Fries or Chips ($1 or $2).

The stands on the 2nd and 3rd floors have most of what the cafeteria does. The one on the second floor is on the west end of the building next to the elevators. The one on the third floor is across from the video game room (Room Panel B). The foods are prepared in the cafeteria and then brought to the 2nd and 3rd floor stands until they're sold out or the Con closes for the day, whichever happens first. Just some info to keep in mind.

I usually use the 3rd floor stand. the 2nd floor stand is right outside of Main Events, so you will in fact be standing while you eat. On the 3rd floor thats usually where people sitting around in that wide hallway. Usually more spacious.

I usually use the 3rd floor stand. the 2nd floor stand is right outside of Main Events, so you will in fact be standing while you eat. On the 3rd floor thats usually where people sitting around in that wide hallway. Usually more spacious.

...Yeah, about half the people who go to the cafeteria on the first floor will go to the 3rd floor. Those who have an access pass to the Crunchyroll lounge take their food in there though.

It's an exclusive lounge for Congoers who have a Premium or Premium+ Crunchyroll subscription. The lounge is located on the first floor next the the cafeteria across from the Dealer's Room. You will need an access pass from the Crunchyroll booth in the Dealer's Room, which you will receive once you confirm your premium status to them with one of their kiosks. All you will have to do is log in to your account. If you don't have a Premium or Premium+ account then you can sign up for one. Those with an access pass can bring a friend with them.

In the Crunchyroll Lounge, they have light snacks and tables set up. They also have a few screens set up playing exclusive Anime that hasn''t been released yet.